Hilco!

My newest fabric acquisitions!

I have been in-love with the fabrics in the children's Ottobre magazine....almost all of which are listed as Hilco as the manufacturer. So, I decided to do a search and found a few places in the united states that sold them. (Hilco is a European company.) The place with the best selection and pricing was Banberry place located in Texas. Now, even though I say they have the best pricing.....these are expensive fabrics! The two prints were $21.25/yard and the stripe was $19.51/yard. Thank goodness there is no tax! Anyhow, I didn't think I was a cheap fabric buyer....but I had a hard time ordering these! I am very happy with the quality of the fabric.

The prints have very vibrant colors, the stripe has great stretch and recovery. The prints are french terry on the inside....a soft fuzzy feel. They are not quite as heavy as a sweatshirt material, but heavier than a t-shirt. Probably great for our san diego winters! I purchased a yard of each one. I figured I could get 6 items made from this for the two girls. The stripe one will be leggings and the prints will be tops of some sort! I am anxious to use them; however, it is in the high 80's today and I am having a hard time even thinking of making something warm! They will most likely have to wait. BTW, Banberry place has great service and super fast shipping! Go over and take a look, they have a lot of European fabrics. I am sure I will be back over there, but with those prices.....I need to have a definite project and not just stash shopping!

Don't you love the cute polar bears peeking out??

Ottobre capris 02-2009-13

Here are the finished capris! I wasn't kidding around with the description! They are a bit on the wild side, but I love this fabric. These are going to Hawaii with me in august! I used Ottobre 02/2009 13 - "Practicality" cropped pants. I like this pattern. I adjusted the length on my pattern paper before cutting. I had to take out 3 inches of length to get them to hit my leg mid-shin. They have front yoke pockets, and are a good pocket length. They have an extra wide faced waistband on them, and belt loops with a zipper fly. The hems at the bottom are turned up at 2" for a nice wide hem look. I made a size 46. This pattern was sized 46 - 52. The fabric is a 100% cotton, more of a shirting weight, but I wanted to have a light pair of breathable capris. I plan on these being roomy, but right now they are more of a snug fit. I am still on my weight loss journey, though and hope soon they will be looser! (I have lost 16 pounds! Yay!.....my intermediate goal is 20 by hawaii....I have 3 weeks to lose 4 pounds). I have an orange sophia knit that is sitting in my stash that is definitely going to be a shirt for these pants. If you ever get a chance to pick up some sophia knits - do it. They are nice and stable with great recovery, a little bit thicker to smooth the insides. My lavendar tank top was a sophia knit.

It is hard to see the buttons (you can click on the picture to get a bigger view), but these are from button drawer (online company). They are a cute molded design in the island motif. Have you ever shopped buttons from button drawer? They have sooo much you will get drawn into their website for hours! Fun though! Whatever you may be looking for, they will have....at a decent cost and fast service!

more jalie 2792..gymnastics anyone?

Here we go again! I don't know if you remember the last time I made a version of these (only a short month ago!)? Anyhow, I stupidly used a fabric with cute sparkly dots for the top bodice portion. Thoses cute dots continue to be a pain in my a$$!! Everytime the girls put on those suits, I hear complaints that the dots are scratchy and itchy, even though I painstakenly cut off all of the dots on the inside of the turned over hem. So, even though I think the others are far cuter, I made new suits for the girls with no scratchy and itchiness to complain about! I made a hair scrunchy to match the suit....I am going to have to make another one. I didn't think it would even stay in my younger dd's hair, but she made me try and it worked....so one more of those to make!

I just figured out that this makes ten of these suits in different variations that I have made now! At $40-$50 a pop to purchase one, I have saved $400! I figure it costs me about $3 a suit to make, at most! I have been using material from my stash that I had purchased for swimsuits, so maybe these are almost free! :) Sewer logic!

I do have something more interesting brewing on the back burner. I traced out a pattern from Ottobre 2/ 2009 for a pair of capris. I have a fabric in stash in mind for them, they are a black fabric with cute ladies in beachwear on them. Stay tuned!

Ottobre 02-2009-8

I started and finished this top this evening. Another 2 hour max adventure. I am still in need of a bra to wear with all these tops! This is Ottobre 02/2009 #8 (a sundress). In the magazine the model is wearing the top over leggings. After I made it up the length of the pattern, I realized that it was just too long. As a sundress, this would have been a sack on me. Shortened as a top I like it. I just wish I had figured that out before I wasted so much fabric!! This top has ties that tie on the shoulder. A tie strap goes through a casing in the front and back. This was really easy to sew up and I think it turned out pretty cute. I usually shy away from sleeveless tops because of my fat arms, but this summer I am going for it! I got this fabric in my last shipment from the evil fabric queen. Are you a part of the fabric coop? If not, you need to go join over at the yahoo group fabrics & notions. I get 95% of my fabric over there. Unfortunately, there are so many cute fabrics that you tend to overbuy. The way it works is Ressy puts up a picture album or description of some fabrics. You put in your order, then she orders it up. It is delivered to her, cut by her, then shipped out to you by her. Her pricing is better than most places and she gets things that you just don't find anywhere else. The only drawback is that you don't get what you order for a month or two. That isn't an issue with me since I have purchased so much that my stash has taken on a life of its own! I have plenty to choose from no matter what the season! My problem is that I tend to overbuy!! I get in my head that if I don't get it that I may never get a chance to again! Oh well! I wasn't sold on this fabric for this top, but after it was completed I am pretty happy with it. I think it would look nice with some black capris or shorts. I had orginally envisioned this would be a skirt.....except I don't wear skirts! It has a crinkle to it and a little bit of stretch. It is a soft knit on the inside. Alright, I think I have written more than enough about this top! Catch you later!

bwof 7-2009-124A

Hot off the presses! I think this is a first time ever that I actually finished something from the month the issue came out in! I am really glad that I cut out the size 42 and didn't make it any bigger. This particular fabric is just very relaxed with a lot of give to it. The black fabric is a bamboo interlock manufactured from Siltex that I got at the yahoo group Fabrics & Notions. It is soooo soft that I love it for that, but I need to remember to down size a little using it. I used a jersey knit for the neck strap and the ties around the waist. The bwof instructions were pretty simple....this is a one dot pattern. I actually didn't hardly follow the instructions, not too much to the top with cute results. I didn't photo the back side because I haven't purchased my strapless bra yet! In this photo my hair covered up the straps! I wish that I could go braless, because this would be the perfect top for that! The whole shape of the top changes when I tried that :) !! I really like this top and it will be a perfect addition to my vacation to hawaii wardrobe! I think that this top took me about 1 1/2 hours to sew up and about 30 minutes to trace and cut out, so we are talking 2 hours start to finish. Those are my kind of projects!

Hope you had a great 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July! I got a picture before my dh put up the flag with the girls!

I couldn't resist bwof july 2009 124a, the first picture in my last blog! I traced this afternoon - I traced the largest size 42 because I was planning on using my siltex bamboo interlock which has a lot of relaxation to it and seems to expand as the day goes on. The last shirt I made with this seemed at least a size too big after making it and as the day goes on gets roomier. I measured up today and found to be a burda 46. I am giving it a try and hoping that it will work out for me....if not, I am still on the weight loss wagon, so it should fit soon! I chose a black color bamboo from my stash (which seems to be growing waaaayyyyyy faster than I can possibly sew!), with a coordinating fabric for the sashes and the necktie. It is all cut out awaiting the sewing, stay tuned!

I sewed up a nightgown today for my older dd. It is jalie 2805 with 12" added to the bottom to make it come down to her shins. She was happy with it, it was a tinkerbell knit from my stash. I have made these before a few times and both of the girls love this style. It only took me an hour to sew it together including all the hemming! I got a new down feller for my babylock machine. It is a 5/8" hem, which is what I always use for knits. I tried it out on the bottom hem of the nightie and had great success and definitely saved time pinning! Any tool that saves time and makes your work look nice is a great tool to have!

I also stitched an ear back on the little puppy in the picture. It was a high quality fair win....I would have tossed it, but my dd has been patiently waiting for me to get the ear back on him, so I figured I had to do it!

All in all, it was a pretty productive day!

Finally got my bwof for july!

I was excited to see in the mail my beloved bwof! They had tricked me the last couple of months to expect it a few days before the end of the month and then this month it didn't show up until the 3rd! I was very pleased with many of their designs......except for the plus sized stuff. Since I fall in a 46 - 48 and am on my way to being smaller (down 14 pounds!!), I was hoping that the designs would extend towards the 46 side on the regular designs. Alas, nope! Most of them seem to end at a 42 this time! Bummer! That means extra work tracing to size up to a size that will wrap around my plump body. Well, my work but not impossible! Here are some of the designs that really caught my eye: I love how simple the shirt is, yet very stylish. I would need to get a strapless or clear strapped bra though! Here is another one I really like, although I think I would shorten it to knee length or maybe calf length: With all of the gathers at the bust, I think it would be easy to add in extra fabric for a fba. I am just too short to wear full length!

This would make a great swimsuit coverup.......

Nice and airy!

This one I like for a little summer dress. Again, I would shorten the dress. I think this one would be cute shortened above the knee for a sassy fun dress.

So, all in all, I do really like this issue of bwof! I also think the shorts have potential, who doesn't need shorts? I liked the bikini, however I am not sure I will ever wear a bikini again. My tummy didn't have the stretchy skin that snapped back into shape like some people! Mine more resembles the skin of an orange! Oh... to be a teenager again! I really do love that this burda issue has real summer clothes, living in san diego - summer is most of the year! The really disappointing thing about their plus size designs was that they were not summery! Can't a plus sized person wear a short sleeve or a pair shorts?? AARRGGHH!!

Okay, I am off for now! Enjoy your burda everyone, I can't wait to see what everyone makes! Me.....I may get to something in the coming week!

Have a happy fourth of july!!! God bless all those who have fought for our freedom!